Monitoring cameras are commonly used for monitoring areas both indoors and outdoors, such as bank offices, department stores or public places. The camera is in some cases arranged for dynamic panning and tilting in order to enable image acquisition from different positions in the specific area, and in some cases the camera is panned and tilted to a desired fixed position by an operator when installing the camera. The latter alternative is often denoted a fixed camera installation.
The camera is usually covered by a dome window which protects the camera from dust and water, especially when mounted outdoors, as well as from unauthorized tampering or vandalism.
In a fixed camera installation, an inner cover or lining is normally arranged under the dome window to protect the camera from glare and reflexes from the dome window. The lining is opaque and contains an opening for the field of view of the camera, and it may be rotated to position the opening in the shooting direction of the camera.
When mounting the fixed camera, the operator usually first mounts a mounting base in the desired position on the wall or in the ceiling, and the camera is attached to the mounting base. The camera is then rotated to the desired fixed pan and tilt position by the operator, and the dome window is placed over the camera and screwed into place. Before attaching the dome window, the lining has to be positioned according to the shooting direction or field of view of the camera. This may be a cumbersome process, as the lining is placed on the inside of the dome and its position must be manipulated by the operator when the dome is not in place, in turn meaning that the direction of the field of view of the camera must be estimated by the operator.
US 2010/0225802 discloses a monitor camera having a dome-type cover with an inner cover with an open window and outer cover placed over the inner cover. When the outer cover is turned in the counter-clockwise direction while being pushed up by hand, a one-way clutch mechanism enables the inner cover to be rotated with the outer cover to position the open window in a position corresponding to the camera lens.
However, further improvements in this field are needed.